Dr. Santino Atem Deng

ABSTRACT This article discusses the family dynamics of South Sudanese parents who arrived in New Zealand as quota refugees. It investigates how they experience parenting in relation to language barriers, gender roles, and cultural differences in raising children. The article reports on in-depth interviews with four solo mothers and two married fathers during which participants commonly expressed tensions between finding a workable relationship between traditional parenting and current expectations in New Zealand. This study identifies some potential pathways for working with refugee families who are raising children in resettlement contexts and highlights several key considerations concerning settlement support and gender.

Positive parenting entails a wide understanding of supporting the physical, social, emotional as well as cultural and intellectual development of children. To better understand the fundamentals of positive parenting within the Sudanese community in New Zealand, it is essential to recognise and appreciate the traditional, cultural views of parents whilst also informing them of the different parenting practices and expectations in their new host country. The literature on positive parenting in a resettlement environment centres on empowering families to understand their parenting practices in their pre-settlement environments in order that they may adjust their parenting in their new settings. The New Zealand Ministry of Social Development Strategies with Kids - Information for parents (SKIP) is a community-based programme that aims to equip families with valuable principles of parenting to facilitate and promote a positive attitude around the role of parenting. This article reports o...

A South Sudanese community has lived in Australia since the late 1990s. Despite this long residence, tensions over belonging and identity have intensified in recent years in response to ongoing acculturation stress, overt racism and the community’s complex relationship with their homeland and its seemingly intractable conflict. This article discusses how a ‘deficits discourse’ (Dumbrill, 2009) which sees refugees as needy service recipients during settlement processes has contributed to the ‘othering’ of African migrants in Australia. The authors write that this othering is based on recent, sustained racism, including the criminalising of young Africans, especially South Sudanese youth (Chingaipe, 2017). They conclude that despite the othering that South Sudanese Australians experience on a daily basis, there is a growing resistance to marginalisation and exclusion within the community.

This study examines South Sudanese-Australian parenting practices in the resettlement context from the perspective of both parents and youth. It locates their experiences in the cultures, which inform their parenting, in the changes in their families, and in the challenges they face because of these changes. This thesis has created opportunities for South Sudanese participants to narrate their stories and perspectives, which are essential in exploring cultural changes in societies with strong oral communication traditions. The study seeks to develop a nuanced understanding of South Sudanese experiences of parenting and being parented in South Sudan, and how these differ to their parenting practices in Australia. Through increased cross-cultural knowledge, awareness and understanding, policymakers and service providers can offer improved family support.

This quantitative study investigated self-reported sleep, mental health and trauma related nocturnal behaviours among South Sudanese Australians (SSA), examined sex differences in their responses, and sought to determine risk factors for insomnia in this population. Comparisons were also made to a general Australian (AUS) sample of 1,512 respondents, obtained in a previously published study using the same questions regarding sleep difficulties. Self-reports of sleep difficulties, psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, K10), and nocturnal post-traumatic stress symptoms (Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire Inventory-Addendum, PSQI-A) were obtained from 117 former refugees (aged 16–60 years) who had been resettled for a decade on average. A key finding was that SSA men (n = 62) reported many more problems compared to both SSA women and AUS men. These problems included high rates of clinical insomnia (32%), clinical-level nocturnal post-trauma symptoms (57%), restless ...

Although several studies have been carried out about refugee resettlement or settlement challenges, little has been done either academically or practically to understand their parenting experiences and challenges after settling in Australia. This paper explores the impact of South Sudanese youth experiences of the settlement challenges resulting from acculturation and intergenerational conflicts. It explores their perspectives on the difficulties they encounter while adjusting to their new environment and parents' expectations on them to hold onto their original cultures. Youth also attribute their challenges to a lack of appropriate support services, including the absence of strong local community leadership. The combination of these challenges results in many young people becoming more susceptible to mental health issues, antisocial behaviour and difficulties in acculturating as they struggle to balance their cultures of origin and the new environment. This paper was informed by a PhD study, which involved in-depth interactive engagement with sixty South Sudanese participants (parents and youth) through individual interviews and focus group meetings, mainly on their transition, parenting practices and experiences since settling in Australia.

This study examines South Sudanese-Australian parenting practices in the resettlement context from the perspective of both parents and youth. It locates their experiences in the cultures, which inform their parenting, in the changes in their families, and in the challenges they face because of these changes. This thesis has created opportunities for South Sudanese participants to narrate their stories and perspectives, which are essential in exploring cultural changes in societies with strong oral communication traditions. The study seeks to develop a nuanced understanding of South Sudanese experiences of parenting and being parented in South Sudan, and how these differ to their parenting practices in Australia. Through increased cross-cultural knowledge, awareness and understanding, policymakers and service providers can offer improved family support.       
The research uses qualitative methods that focus on the nature and meaning of these changes and challenges.  It employs an interdisciplinary approach that integrates perspectives from sociology, psychology, refugee studies, and migration and family studies. It draws on both narrative and constructivist theoretical approaches to help construct and analyse the data, which were collected through interpersonal interactive engagement with 60 South Sudanese participants, both parents and young people, using individual interviews and focus group meetings.       
The thesis reveals gaps in the current knowledge base used to promote and support the health and wellbeing of culturally diverse parents and their children, as both groups engage in the process of social integration. It shows the transitions and challenges faced by South Sudanese parents and their children, and how these can create significant pressures, resulting in intergenerational conflicts. These challenges are also exacerbated by changes in gender roles and power structures within the family, lack of social support and child protection issues. This study notes the significance of engaging South Sudanese proactively in resolving their settlement challenges through providing appropriate parenting support, using holistic family-, parent- and community-centred approaches.